Tiki Barber shares his reason for criticizing Saquon Barkley

Tiki Barber raised some eyebrows recently when he was critical of New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley’s pass protection. Now, he ex-Giants running back is explaining why he said the things he did.

Barber said his criticism came from a desire to see Barkley improve, and likened it to when a media member made him aware of his fumbling problem when he was still playing.

“I’ve been asked if I’m going to reach out to Saquon (to help him work on his blocking),” Barber said on Friday’s “Tiki and Tierney,” on CBS Sports Radio/CBS Sports Network. “No, I’m not his coach. I hearken this back to when I had fumbling issues and a media member sat down with me and said ‘Tiki, you have a fumbling problem and I’m going to write about it.’ And I was like ‘what the hell are you talking about?’ He made me aware of it. I wasn’t even thinking about it or really aware of it. It was alarming, but it rose my awareness about it and made me self-conscious about it. …

“I don’t point this out because I want to crap on Saquon. I think he has a desire and the ability to be one of the greatest RBs in the history of the NFL. But in order to do that, you have to be reliable in every aspect of what they ask you to do. I remember (early in my career) my coach telling me, ‘If you can’t protect your quarterback. If it doesn’t piss you off when your QB gets hit under the chin by that linebacker that you were supposed to block, if that doesn’t piss you off more than getting a negative-yard run, then you’re not the right teammate.’

“At the end of the day, my opinion doesn’t matter… My job as an analyst is to point out what I see and it’s what I’ve seen. It’s his coach’s job and his job to fix it, and I’m positive that he will. I’m absolutely positive that he will.”

"I don't point this out to crap on Saquon… I think he has a desire and the ability to be one of the greatest RBs in the history of the NFL… But in order to do that, you have to be reliable in every aspect of what they ask you to do"

– @TikiBarber pic.twitter.com/gJFVtjohtQ

— TikiAndTierney (@TikiAndTierney) September 17, 2020

Barkley appears to have taken Barber’s criticism in the exact way Barber would have wanted him to. The 23-year-old posted over 1,000 yards in each of his first two NFL seasons. To become an elite all-around back, he’ll need to do what Barber suggests. He seems ready to try.